If Disney has taught me anything, it’s that cats and dogs just cannot get along (plus, never, under any circumstances, trust your uncle – see: The Lion King); gaming company Planet Of The Apps continues to propagate this belief structure in its excellent new platform game, Alley Cat Saga.
You are familiarized with the story via a pretty cool video intro that zooms through suburbia and into a house where sleeping kittens lie; outside the house a nefarious-looking burglar (are there any other types in cartoons?) and a scowling pitbull are peeking through the window at the slumbering litter before creeping in and swiping the lot of them. They leave an older cat, Smokey, and this is the character that you control; a charismatic, piratical sort of cat, Smokey is adorned with a hoop earring, a bandana and a devil-may-care attitude to safety at heights, as is displayed by his constant leaping from building to building in search of the stolen kittens.
The cartoon backdrop of the city is visually effective and the sound effects of Smokey’s paws padding through the night are very cute; the aim of the game is to rescue all of the kittens and to this you have to complete various missions along the way. The missions can be accessed via open windows and they are fairy wide-ranging, in a platform game sort of way: some windows encourage you to drink water from slumbering dogs’ water bowls without waking them up; others posit you in a multi-layered treehouse with a lady kitten at the top, pecking crows flying throughout and patrolling foxes that want to stop you from reaching the cat at the top; one of them even places Smokey in a singing contest with a female admirer, with you having to control the notes via colored buttons – sing out of tune (and you’re a cat, so this is especially hard) and you fail the mission.
One element that I thought was especially cute is the branded credit cards that you use to buy milk for the kittens, secret books, magic helmets and other such items to help you along your way; they are in the same style of well-known credit cards, but have been given a feline tinge American Kitten(American Express), MasterCat (MasterCard) and CHEETAH (VISA). A small touch, but an endearing one, nonetheless.
Of course, you can purchase in-app upgrades with real cash to make your mission a little smoother (and more exciting); you can also share your achievements on Facebook, straight after you complete a mission.
This is a genuinely cool game and will keep children and adults alike entertained for a long time and will be great to share around friends and family; just remember what I said at the start about trusting your uncle – if he has a dark mane and a camp laugh, don’t lend him your iPhone and especially don’t accompany him to any Elephant Graveyards…
